


Detective Sitting

by Evitcani



Series: Living and Dying Beneath the Veil [11]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angus is Taako's Magic Son, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-16 10:56:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10569876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evitcani/pseuds/Evitcani
Summary: Taako has to go on an important trip and only trusts one undead guy to watch his son.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Another short break from The Meaning of Life. Set in the same timeline of events. 
> 
> Quick explanation: Taako and Angus used to live in a townhouse. When Angus went to fantasy college, Taako moved into the apartment above the bakery. Which is where he is in The Meaning of Life. 
> 
> Harper is the florist mentioned in Fifth Date.

Death was always nervous before dates. It'd been long enough that Kravitz no longer mentally kept track of which date their current ones were. Time was running a bit short on him. He'd finally managed to capture the toddler squealing with laughter after Eli had rushed at her from one side straight into the reaper. Kravitz scooped her up before she could escape again towards the playground. Elena had not wanted to go home, but Eli was starting to get grumpy as it closed in on his bedtime. 

Kravitz bounced Elena on his hip as he took Eli's hand and walked them back to the little cottage not far from the park. Harper greeted them at the door. Eli tugged at her dress excitedly, "Mom, mom! Uncle Alli showed me how to crack open rocks." The little boy held up the geodes for Harper to appraise. 

"Oh, how pretty! Better get them upstairs to your room before I steal them," she grinned down at Eli who hugged the rocks closer to his chest. She held out her hands and Kravitz handed over Elena. Eli darted past Harper with his prizes. Harper turned and pulled out the roses, handing them over to the reaper. Kravitz took them carefully, not wanting to bruise the petals. "Thanks for watching them again, Alli." 

"Only this one is a problem," Kravitz shook a finger playfully at Elena who giggled and grabbed at it. "How did the date go? Eli misses him." 

Harper smiled and swayed Elena back and forth. "Oh, you know, Henry is how Henry is. He'll be on leave soon, so Eli won't have to miss him much longer. Now, don't _you_ have a date to get to?" 

Kravitz turned to judge the time from the sun and blanched. "Yes, I'm late. Tell Eli I said goodbye. Have a good night, Harper. You too, Elena," he rushed out, waving at both quickly. They both waved as Kravitz left, walking far enough to summon his scythe. He whisked back on his cloak and tore through reality to the alleyway besides Taako's house. 

The lights had come on, so he made his way past the gate, being careful this time to watch that he didn't step on any of Taako's plants that had crept into the crooked stone path to the porch. The door opened as he held up a fist to knock.

"You're late, boyfriend," Taako greeted. 

Kravitz smiled sheepishly and held out the flowers. "Sorry to keep you waiting, love. I had a little problem that proved a lot more difficult to capture than I thought." 

The elf _tsk_ ed, taking the flowers and setting them in the vase he kept by the doorway. Kravitz stepped inside and closed the door behind himself. Taako fussed with the arrangement before he seemed happy. "Okay, I should be all set now that you've finally showed your mug. Just don't set the house on fire," he warned, reaching down to pick up his pack. 

The reaper blinked, looking lost. "I'm sorry?" 

Taako picked up the vase in one hand and pecked Kravitz on both cheeks. "Don't worry, Anglo basically takes care of himself. Swords are in the closet by the bathroom. Don't open the door for anyone who looks, you know, _eugh_. They're probably here to murder boy wonder. Definitely murder anyone who shouts batshit crazy nonsense about Istus. Bye, boo." Kravitz was trying to keep up, but Taako was sprinting out the door, staff in hand, before he had much of a chance to react. 

Angus snorted from behind Kravitz. Kravitz turned to find the boy, now more of an awkward teenager, trying to hold back laughter. "He didn't tell you, sir," Angus stated. 

"I thought this was a date," Kravitz replied awkwardly, trying to recall if he'd just missed something painfully obvious. 

Angus laughed and gestured with his wand, shutting the door with his magic. "He had to go take care of that _Thing_. A couple of them showed up here, so I think he's nervous they'll come after us. Except, it's d-- Taako, so he's not so much nervous, sir, as aggressively vulgar," Angus nodded to himself. 

"Yes," Kravitz said haltingly, "That _Thing_." He had learned a long time ago to simply roll with whatever madness Taako had managed to be caught up in. There was a slam against the windows, where Kravitz saw magical wards repel it back. 

The reaper opened the door. The thing snarled at him and he swept its soul to the astral plane quicker than it could react to him. At least they were undead, meaning he would have an easy time dispatching them. He closed the door back. 

Angus was looking at him, impressed. "One of those things took Taako approximately an hour to fight. Maybe you should have gone with him, sir." 

"They're undead, this is my day job, Angus," Kravitz sat the scythe back into the shadows. He considered why Taako wouldn't have asked for his help earlier, then glanced at Angus. Taako would have known Kravitz could easily tear through swathes of the creatures. He smiled to himself. "I think I'm exactly where Taako needed me to be, Angus."

For the world's greatest detective, the surprised expression that spread across his face seemed genuine. "Oh! I see, sir," he exclaimed. He looked so honestly touched that Kravitz wondered if he should give the boy a moment alone to collect himself. 

Kravitz flicked his scythe from the shadows to beside the door, wondering if he should just sit on the porch and dare any undead creature to come forward. "You can go to bed if you'd like. This is going to be trivial for me to deal with." 

Angus shook his head. "No, no-- I want to help! Also, you may not have noticed, sir, but I am fifteen. It's far too early for my bedtime. Taako and I usually play board games until it gets a little later, sir. If he's not on a date with you, sir," Angus's earnest way of talking wore Kravitz down immediately. 

The reaper sighed. "I'm going to go outside if it starts to get bad, but you stay by the door so you can close it if you need to." Angus nodded in agreement. Kravitz looked around awkwardly. "So, did you want to play a board game?" 

The boy laughed and gestured to the dining room. He wandered over to a cabinet and pulled out some games. Kravitz wasn't surprised that most of them were games that depended more on wit and strategy than chance. Angus picked out the chess board and sat it in front of Kravitz on the table. 

Kravitz ended up being a worthy opponent, which seemed to surprise Angus. "I never lose, sir," he exclaimed as Kravitz knocked over his king with a pawn. "You're really good!" Kravitz paused, realizing that there was some sort of anxiety forming in Angus's eyes. 

The reaper sat back. "Do you think my only job is bounty hunting?" 

Angus blinked. "Well, yes, actually. I had assumed as much, sir." 

Kravitz felt that was fair. "It keeps me busy between wars. It needs to be done besides, but it's an extension of my duties as commander of the Raven Queen's armies." Angus's eyes shone with curiosity and interest. There would be more questions if Kravitz didn't explain more. He folded his hands on the table and leaned forward conspiratorially. "Why don't we make a deal?" 

"Taako said not to take deals from you because you're too good at stuff, sir," Angus replied, but then grinned. "But he also says 'fuck the man, do what you want, Agnes', so sure. Lay it on me, homie," Taako's vulgarity combined with Angus's chipper earnestness made Kravitz laugh. 

"Okay, every piece of mine you knock over, I'll answer a question. Every piece of yours I knock over, well, it just gets me closer to winning." He held out a hand and Angus grabbed it, shaking enthusiastically. 

The boy spent the rest of their time playing quizzing Kravitz on military logistics. It had the effect of wiping the anxiety at losing off of Angus's face and making him worry more about knocking over as many pieces as he could rather than defending his king. Each loss seemed to be an opportunity for Angus to start again at the easier pieces for more answers. 

The slamming on the windows increased in frequency until it sounded like rain. Kravitz started to worry the wards wouldn't hold. "I'm going to go have a look," he paused, "No cheating." Angus laughed. Kravitz opened the door. He immediately regretted it as dozens of red eyes turned to look at him. 

By the time dawn started over the horizon, Kravitz had reverted to his third face and was swallowing some of the beasts whole; they turned to ash the instant they entered his mouth. Angus was using some cantrip to push them closer to Kravitz's rampage and away from the porch. They'd only seemed to be getting worse and Kravitz dismissed all thoughts of Taako when he thought of what that might have been a sign of. If he could get a break, then he could call in troops of knights, but he knew they'd overwhelm the house's wards and Angus would be in immediate danger. Angus had run out of spell slots hours ago.

Both of them were wearing thin.

One of the creatures caught Kravitz in the flank and he snarled in pain, ripping it from his side and eating it. He had lots of cuts and dings, but that one had slipped past his thick armor. He put weight on the leg and winced, lowering an arm to steady himself, but the creatures had seen his weakness. They dragged him down and he chittered in pain. Angus shouted in alarm and Kravitz was trying to find the voice to tell him not to be worried; something like this couldn't kill the reaper even if he would appear to be dead for a few hours. Unfortunately, this form was better built for functions other than talking.

Another shout carried some distance away. A fireball slammed into the creatures swarming him and he shook the rest off. He'd never been more glad to the elf barreling down the street. 

This was short-lived as Taako pointed his staff right at the reaper. 

Kravitz realized belatedly that he _did_ look objectively horrifying. The tentacles spiraled up and dragged his weak form back to the ground, choking him. He blacked out, already having been pushed to his limits without the tentacles trying to destroy him. 

When Kravitz woke up, he was still laying in Taako's crushed vegetable garden, but someone had put a pillow under his head. It looked to be closer to mid or late afternoon, but no undead. The reaper shrunk to his material form and rubbed at his face. He hissed as he put a hand down on the gouges in his thigh, then stood carefully and made his way inside with the dirty pillow, covered in ichor and gore. Kravitz was sure at least most of it had been what drained out of his mouth. What a romantic thing for his boyfriend to have seen. 

He sighed deeply, dropping the pillow outside the front door to be burned later. He opened the door and stepped into the entrance-way. Taako barreled into him as soon as the door closed, hugging him tight and kissing him all over the face. "Babe, I didn't even realize. Fucking spooky ghost shit, but a fucking giant ass monster?" He pulled back as his tone turned reprimanding. "And how much of those fuckin' zombies did you eat? You could've gone inside and waited it out, dumbass. We killed the big kahuna, homie, so they were all gone by nine in the am." Kravitz carefully smoothed away Taako's tears. Taako swatted his hands away. "What was I supposed to do when Angus shouted that big thug I capsized was my _boyfriend_?" 

"I wasn't sure if the wards would hold. You didn't exactly tell me what was going on, love," Kravitz was trying not to raise his voice. He pressed their foreheads together instead. "I was so scared of what it meant when they kept coming. When you didn't come." He put his arms around Taako, keeping the lingering dread at bay with physical touch. "What would I do without you?" Kravitz regretted the question immediately, because he honestly had no idea. That scared him more. 

"Shut up," Taako hiccuped and clung to him, hiding his face. "Ye-yeah, sorry, don't wanna fight, babe. Don't wanna hurt you." He pulled back and tangled his fingers in Kravitz's curls. 

They both channeled their anxieties into kissing and touching and reaffirming each other that they were both there. Kravitz protested softly at his aching back being slammed against the door, but that didn't last for long. Taako was very good at being distracting. 

Merle cleared his throat. Kravitz froze and cracked an eye open to see a small crowd of Taako's friends looking on from the dining room where they'd been eating some kind of dinner. Angus was hiding his face as Lucretia patted him reassuringly. Kravitz's cheeks burned, even as Taako continued kissing down his throat, heedless of the interruption. He also cleared his throat and put his hands on Taako's shoulders. 

"Right, we can catch up later, love," he murmured to the elf, wanting to go back outside to the much less embarrassing garden.

Taako's disappointment was brief. "It's a date, handsome."

**Author's Note:**

> This started out with babysitting, but then I was like "Wait, Angus would be fine on his own" and then it became a small zombie apocalypse. Anyway, this is all over the place. 
> 
> I'm taking these little breaks from The Meaning of Life because it deals so closely with memory issues, depression, and grieving. Which all gets a little close to the heart of my own issues and makes it hard to write. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy them anyway! Even if for me they are _escape_.
> 
> Feel free to follow my [Tumblr](https://evitcani-writes.tumblr.com/).


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